Easton wins fourth consecutive District 11 3A duals title

Red Rovers rally to beat Parkland, 28-26. Both advance to state tourney.

February 02, 2013|By Mark Wogenrich, Of The Morning Call

Robbie Rizzolino has three District 11 gold medals hanging above his bed. And room for a fourth.

Easton continued its mastery of the District 11 Class 3A duals on Saturday, rallying from another deficit against Parkland to win 28-26 in the championship match at Freedom High. With the victory, the Red Rovers claimed their fourth consecutive duals title, giving Rizzolino and his fellow seniors a quartet of gold medals.

"We wanted that fourth one so badly," said Rizzolino, who contributed a 5-2 victory at 132 pounds. "There was no way we were going to accept taking home a silver medal."

Both Easton and Parkland advanced to next week's PIAA Class 3A tournament. Parkland will wrestle Wilson West Lawn in the preliminary round at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Whitehall High. Easton is off until the three-day tournament begins Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

On Saturday, Easton (15-1) solidified its position in the district-duals hierarchy. In addition to winning their fourth in a row, the Red Rovers claimed their 10th title in the last 13 years and their 12th in the tournament's 24-year history.

"There are a lot of expectations on an Easton senior at this time of year," coach Steve Powell said. "They know the tradition. And they came through."

Once again, though, Parkland (13-3) had a victory over Easton in sight. Last month Easton defeated Parkland 30-27 in one of the area's best high school matches in years. It featured four overtime bouts, including the final two. Parkland won the first three overtime bouts, but Easton's Kyle Baker claimed the clincher, edging Parkland's Ian Evans 8-3 in the finale bout at 138 pounds.

This time, Parkland took a 22-13 lead with five bouts remaining after Josh Ortman's pin at 138. But Easton's next four middleweights — seniors Kyler Kilpatrick, Dyvon Gibson, Evan DiSora and Willie Alford — won to clinch the district title.

Rizzolino and his teammates let out a scream when Alford defeated Parkland's Nate Christman 8-3 at 170 for the decisive victory. Had Parkland tied the score in the final bout, Alford's victory would have given Easton the win on criteria.

"I expect the worst, so I really didn't want to believe until Willie got that win," Rizzolino said. "That was one of the most nerve-wracking matches ever."

Parkland, which wrestled Easton in the final for the third time in four years, certainly won its share of nerve-wracking bouts. Shaun Heist (220) edged Jagger Miller 3-2, and heavyweight Zach MacLean outlasted Mike Catalano 3-2 in the ultimate tiebreaker.

In addition, junior Ethan Lizak avenged a loss to Easton freshman Evan Fidelibus, winning their rematch 18-4. Parkland coach Ryan Nunamaker said his team wrestled "as hard as we could."

"It's really disappointing that they don't get to call themselves district champions, because they wrestled like it this weekend," Nunamaker said. "One day, we're going to break through and win one of these big matches."

DiSora, who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury, had a milestone day for the Red Rovers. The 160-pounder won his 100th career bout in the semifinals against Stroudsburg, then scored a critical pin against Parkland.

Greene (195) began the match confidently for the Red Rovers, wrestling up a weight class to decision Omar Haddad 8-3. After the Trojans won the next four bouts, Easton's Anthony Parisi, who returned this weekend from an injury, majored Brayson Haas 22-12 to halt Parkland's flow.

Jimmy Saylor's victory at 126 led to Rizzolino, who drew the Red Rovers within three points before Ortman's pin.

"We have so much respect for all the teams in [the Lehigh Valley Conference]," Powell said. "No one is going to walk through this league."

Easton advanced to the final with a 49-12 victory over Stroudsburg, the Mountain Valley Conference champion. Parkland won the first six bouts of its semifinal match against Liberty en route to a 53-13 victory.

Once again, Parkland faces a quick turnaround, wrestling Wilson West Lawn on Monday. The Trojans defeated Wilson, the fourth-place team from District 3, 35-18 earlier this year.

"If Easton is one of the top two teams in the state, then I feel we're one of the top teams as well," Nunamaker said. "We'll set our goals on a state championship. We're resilient. We relish the challenge."

By winning, Easton landed in the half of that state-duals bracket that also includes Canon-McMillan, the returning state champ. The two teams could meet in the semifinals.

"We know Canon-McMillan is out there," Rizzolino said. "We just have to have a great week of practice and wrestle to the best of our ability."